A new Beginning
by Shannon C. Redfield
Summary: Possibly the first fan-fic to Star Wars Episode III. Contains spoilers Read at your own risk. Takes place immediatly after the movie.
1. Thoughts

**This is (or might be)the **_first _**Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith fan fiction to appear here on this site. I have just come back from seeing the midnight showing of this incredible, dark film. This is **_the one _**that all Jedi's should see as it completes the wonderfully imaginative saga that is known as Star Wars.**

**Quick disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars.**

**Quick warning: Spoiler for anyone who has not seen the film and sat through **_all _**of it. **

**Also, for the ones who know it's a given, this takes place on Tatooine as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is about to leave the Lars household. First-person perspective as he reflects upon all that has happened to lead up to the point of when the Republic is no more.**

**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**

* * *

_I have handed over young Luke Skywalker to his rightful immediate family. _

_His aunt, Miss Beru, has graciously taken him from me---smiling as she held her nephew for the first time. I watched as she retreated to her counterpart, Owen, and can't help but see how much this little boy will be loved. I turnto take my leave, pulling my hood over my head. The twin suns are setting, and I am needed elsewhere. As I hoisted myself atop my living animal and slowly trodded outinto the empty desert, I couldn't help but reflect on the events that led up to this moment._

_Where did I go wrong with Anakin? Where, as a master, did I fail my once faithful Padawan? _

_How could he not trust me?_

_Then again, how could I have not trust him?_

_So many headaches..._

_No, Obi-Wan. Stop this. Stop this now! It was not your teachings or your lectures. You did not love him enough---praise him when he needed to be praised. Time and again you shuned him for many things. And now that you lost him...he will _never _know how much you trully loved him._

_Wait. That is not true, either. You told Anakin as he slowly slid down into the fires of that ghastly planet, how much you loved him as a brother. You gave so much emotion in your words that they must have reached Anakin for one brief moment. It wasn't enough. It wasn't enough you old fool!_

_You should have told him you loved him as a _son, _not a brother! That one crucial word could have saved him---you could have saved him from years of hard training to be a jedi, by telling him before that fateful moment that you loved him as a _son. _Why Obi-Wan, did you not tell him?_

_I wiped my forehead with my sleeve. By causing myself internal conflict, I was making myself perspire with grief that I cannot fix. _

_Grief..._

_Padme, dear child...your children are safe. Your son is safe with a family that will not steer him wrong. Your daughter is far from here; fufilling a long-time wish to a couple who have wanted to adopt a young baby girl. They thank you for giving them that chance. I have been given the task of watching over your young Luke, as little Leia will already be well-taken care of. I will not let you down in watching over your little boy. I will not fail him as I have failed Anakin._

_Anakin... Is he alive, I wonder? I know he is. I would have felt his passing. I would have felt his spirit leave him instead of hearing his cries of agony and hate. Hate that he had directed towards me. Hate that has been dwelling and boiling within his dark soul that he chose to take out on me when he believed in the lies that the Jedi were plotting to take control of the Senate and overthrow the Chancellor._

_The Chancellor... Emperor is his new title. But you know that already, don't you Padme? Now that you have joined the otherside, you now know who he is and what the Republic has now become. I do not blame you for not believing me about what I thought that Anakin was becoming. Now I understand how deeply your love for him ran...you would have done anything to stop him..._

_...you tried..._

_I looked up into the night sky, wondering which stars made up her beautiful complexion. Or did she return to Naboo? I do not know. I only know, that deep within the Living Force that my former Padawan was still alive. If I did not feel his demise then he must still be here. His children are hidden and I am to go into hiding. It will be a very long time---a _long, _long time---until I hear from Master Yoda and Senator Bail Organa. _

_I must be patient._

_I slightly smiled to myself before the night wind erased the gesture. The future will become a rough one. Mine included, I have no doubt of that. _

_But now, to ease my pain, I must do what Master Yoda had taught me to do._

_I shall go to a place that will become my new dwelling._

_There, I shall talk...talk, with an old friend. A mentor I have had trouble talking to. _

_He has much to learn about what has happened to me over the years. I will be very gratefulwhen he hears me out, and make mevery happy when I hear his voice._

_Qui-Gon._

_I am coming._


	2. Reflection

**Chapter 1**

**Reflection**

_

* * *

__After what seemed like an eternal journey, I have found the perfect spot to rest._

_The twin suns of Tatooine are setting, and I rest myself near some boulders and admire the view. Pulling my robe closer around me, I take a moment to stretch my legs._

_...almost looks like the sky is on fire._

_Anakin... So, my thoughts trail back to you once more. _

_I sigh rather deeply, the familiar ache in my heart returning. I couldn't help but to think about the boy that turned into a man. A man, without sorrow or regret, turned on me...on the Order...on his wife...and became something I could not even see coming. I had no idea that the boy I raised into a man would be the one to bring death and destruction to all life around him. _

_To cause choas._

_To cause confusion._

_To cause..._

_My breath caught in my throat. A new realization struck. The feeling was so powerful, my vision couldn't take in the beauty of dusk. Something that didn't hit me before, has now struck home._

_The Younglings. Anakin killed the Younglings._

_The very future of the Order...destroyed._

_Many of them looked up to him, even admired him. Many wanted to become him. Others promised that when old enough, he would choose one of them to be his apprentice. Now they were all gone. The hope of future Jedi dies with them._

_Anakin... Did you not feel remorse before you struck them down? Did you not gaze into their eyes and see the compassion they had to offer you? Did you not think that for a moment, before you struck down the first, to consider that you might be striking down your _own _child?_

_No. I didn't think so. If he was so much as to have any logic left in him, he would have thought that. He wouldn't have struck down the first and continued his campaign of slaughter. Being there with Master Yoda, all those bodies---all potential gone---was enough proof that Anakin will do whatever it took to gain what he wanted._

_Power._

_Control._

_Absolute loyalty._

_Something I know I failed to teach. A lesson that seemed forbidden in his mind. Power and the lust for more so, was something I could not teach him to forget---to ignore. I have failed him._

_I have failed him._

_I lean against the nearest boulder. The weight of this impossible burden taking its toll. So this was what it was like for a parent to fail in raising his only child. His only son. For a brother to fail when he is left to help raise his younger brother. _

_Somewhere along the way, I have failed._

_When was it? I have already torn my heart in two. Must I do it again? No, Obi-Wan. Rest here and think about the task at hand. Your job, your _mission, _is to look after young Luke Skywalker. Son to Anakin Skywalker...possible threat to Lord Darth Vader._

_Darth Vader._

_Anakin's new assumed name. What did it mean, really? I sigh. I am getting too old to worry about the nonsense of a name change. Master Yoda was right; Anakin is gone and now Darth Vader is all that remains. _

_The ache in my heart has not stopped hurting. Every beat that is felt only feeds the hurt that will continue to haunt me for the rest of my life. I gaze back out to the twin suns. By now, the bottom one is ready to disappear._

_I am at a loss for words._

_"Why could I not save him?" My voice sounded drained of life. "Why could I not stop him? Where did I fail him?"_

_I slump down to the ground as my knees give way. I know that I must get back up and resume my journey of finding that new place to call home. That desolute place to claim as my solitary sanctuary. Yet I could not find the strength to stand back up. I could only give in to fatigue from an aching heart._

_Slowly I close my eyes. The night wind brushing against my face. Perhaps I shall rest here for the night. My journey will continue tomorrow._

_"Where did I fail you, Anakin..."_

_The Force begins to surge. Gently it surrounds me. Something about it calmed my nerves and slowed my bleeding heart. I melt into it, welcoming its warming embrace...like as if something or someone was beside me. Craddling me._

_Then a voice spoke. Without even my needing to reach out and call, the Force spoke._

_"No more then I felt as if I had failed you."_

_My heart seemed to stop. My lungs closed up. I quickly turn my head to the speaking, ghostly figure. I couldn't believe my eyes._

_"Qui-Gon!"_


End file.
